Ken Davies, 63, of Oaklands Crescent, Tattenhall, who pays £27 a month for his Sky service, said: 'CH3 has become part of Wales. Yesterday I spoke to Sky and they said 'It's nothing to do with us. It's the BBC'. But S4C is nothing to do with the BBC.

'I phoned up the BBC and they said 'It's not our fault, it's Sky.'

Mr Davies, whose relatives four generations ago were Welsh, added: 'I don't want to hear about Cardiff and Aberystwyth however nice the towns are. I'm from Manchester and I want the North West news. Wales has taken over about a third of Cheshire!'

Mr Davies said S4C was a purely Welsh language channel but he had no intention of enrolling for a course in Welsh.

He added: 'I can get channels one, two and four on my normal aerial. What annoys me is they have just decided we are part of Wales and want Welsh information.

'It's not just me. I was talking to somebody from Burwardsely and they said exactly the same thing.'

Stephen Smith, 24, who lives in Kensington Green, off Hough Green, Chester, said: 'I've got nothing against the Welsh but I would rather watch programmes I can understand!'

Mrs Carol Weaver, of Smithfields, Tattenhall, who pays £34 a month for her Sky package, said: 'I phoned the Sky customer service line on Tuesday night and they said there were about 4,500 customers who had phoned in. They said they were hoping to rectify it overnight but it's still the same today. Sky said it was the BBC's fault but if it was the BBC why would Channel 4 be affected? We cannot seem to get a straight answer.'

A Sky spokesman said: 'We have had a brief and it says some customers will receive BBC Wales for a few days. It's something to do with BBC regionalisation. They are getting their regions sorted out.'

But a BBC spokesman told the Chronicle: 'Sky has changed its postcode database and it has resulted in this anomaly. We believe they are seeking to rectify it.'